Drivers' Education

Details

Last Updated: Tuesday, 17 March 2020 09:04

Welcome to PCA Potomac'sDriver Education Program (DE). This program is not your High School Drivers ED! Potomac DE program provides you with an opportunity to improve your driving skills and learn to drive your car safely at speeds above highway limits with high accuracy on closed circuit professional road courses. Currently we run our events at 6 different tracks. Included are all three circuits at Summit Point (West VA), VIR (Alton VA), Watkins Glen (NY), and Pitt Race (PA). Many of these are tracks you have enjoyed seeing raced on TV. As a novice DE participant, you will drive with an instructor who will teach you the safest, smoothest and most consistent way to drive as quickly as is safe for the conditions and your skill level at that time. Pre qualifications for eligibility for events, include prior track time from another DE Program, Potomac's March or September High Performance Driving Clinic (HPDC), or Autocross School and participation.

DE is not racing, but Potomac does sponsor the longest running annual Club Race, having hosted the first PCA race west of the Mississippi in 1992, and has had one at Summit Point every year since. You can read more about the Club Race here.

The focus of DE is and always will be safety for all participants and for their vehicles. DE differs from racing in several important ways. DE provides drivers with a learning environment where the goal is to improve your individual driving skills in a safe and fun way. The order in which drivers start or finish a DE session is irrelevant. Racing provides drivers with a competitive environment where the goal is to bethe first across the finish line. DE stresses learning and consistent improvement of skills in a safe environment. Cars are permitted to pass, but only in specific areas of the track (passing zones) and with permission from the car being passed (Passing Signal). This permits cars to pass other cars only in straight sections of the track that are specifically designated as passing zones. To further increase the safety of the learning environment in a DE, course workers (Flaggers) are positioned around the track to help communicate to the driverconditions or obstacles on and off the road surface. These can include slippery course conditions, potential mechanical issues with your car, another car approaching from the rear, and any actions that appear to be inconsistent with the safe learning environment that DE stresses.

A new benefit to our Drivers Ed program this year is the Driver Ambassador Program, which is a team of volunteers available to reach out to drivers new to PCA Potomac. These ambassadors will be available to answer questions about any aspect of our DE program before and after registration, and at the track too, just look for the ambassador logo.

The goals in DE are 1) to be safe, 2) to have fun, and 3) to learn about driving your Porsche smoothly and consistently. Threshold braking, cornering techniques, "the line", "heel and toe" and vehicle dynamics are among the topics taught on the track and in mandatory classroom sessions both taught by our experienced and Certified driving instructors.

Potomac Region is a social club, and new participants are welcomed and appreciated by the entire DE community. We love our Porsches, however we do allow other passenger car Marques to participate. (SUV's and Trucks are not permitted by track rules)

Potomac DE specific Tech Form is required for Potomac DE's, then form can be found here: Tech Inspection Form

To learn more about DE read our FAQ Page.

Read the 2019 DE message from the Chair

Provisional Drivers' Education Schedule for 2020

Drivers' Education Team

DE Co-Chairs
Bob Mulligan & Susan Kimmitt   
DEChair@pcapotomac.org

Co-Chief Instructors
Dan Dazzo, Steve Wilson, & Don Mattran
Chiefinstructor@pcapotomac.org

Tech Co-Chairs
John Vrankovich, Dave Diquollo & Mark Salvador   
Tech@pcapotomac.org 

DE Registrar
Chris Mantzuranis & Diane Sullenberger
deregistrar@pcapotomac.org

Safety Chair
Tim Kearns
Safety@pcapotomac.org

Track Stewards
Tim Kearns, Steve Vetter, & Michael Handelman & Stephan Kiraly    
TrackSteward@pcapotomac.org

Cashier
Roger McLeod 
DECashier@pcapotomac.org

Track Coordinator
Jay Smith
TrackRentals@pcapotomac.org

Track Registrar
Lara Peirce
TrackRegistrar@pcapotomac.org

PorscheFest Coordinator
Michael Kaunitz
mkaunitz@pcapotomac.org

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